USY will continue to enrich the lives of thousands of teens each year through an array of international conventions, immersive experiences, virtual offerings, leadership training, and targeted community programming.
USY has always been — and remains — unique among youth organizations in offering experiences that are rooted in Torah, hesed (justice and kindness towards others), avodah (deep spiritual connections), and love for Israel in a religious-egalitarian framework.
At a moment when the Jewish community and teens are facing unprecedented challenges and rising antisemitism, USY’s re-energized approach builds on five pillars: We will create accessible Judaism and nurture a spiritual home for life that is also a magnetic core for Jewish experiences as we engage with a network of advocates and community partners to grow the leaders of tomorrow.
Recognizing that the traditional regional structure no longer fits the lives of many of today’s teens in the Conservative/Masorti movement, we spent two years speaking directly with them about what the future should look like and piloting a range of programs to find the recipes for success.
As we introduce this new structure, all programs will be heavily subsidized through philanthropy and other sources so more USYers can attend. Our approach includes:
Online educational offerings: USY webinars that already draw hundreds of students a year are being expanded around such topics as Israel education and advocacy, standing up to antisemitism, preparing for the college campus, and social activism. We are also expanding our Heschel Fellowship, through which teens study online with rabbinical students, and expanding USY’s social media engagement.
We spoke with 500 current USYers, alumni, parents, and youth professionals and were guided by their needs, ideas, vision, and concerns. Teens also served on the Vision Team for USCJ’s strategic planning process.
Our focus on hosting multiple North American conventions and immersive experiences was a direct result of these conversations.
Conservative Judaism remains the second-largest movement in North American Judaism, and we believe many more Jews align with our values than are currently affiliated. But our world is continually changing — and we recognize we must meet Jewish communities, families, teens, and young adults where they are today.
The changes at USY are part of a broader reassessment underway at USCJ of how to enrich the lives of hundreds of thousands of Jewish individuals and families, including young adults, through strengthened engagement and hundreds of thriving congregations. We will be finalizing and announcing those plans in the coming months.
Yes! USY’s role is more important than ever. This is a restructuring, not a reduction. We are dedicated to recruiting and retaining excellent staff, subsidizing USYer attendance and travel, and generating support from donors to impact a new generation of USYers.
We are deeply committed to ensuring USY remains affordable for a new generation of Jewish teens and, with philanthropic support, are allocating money to subsidize these programs heavily.
Even without traditional regions, our new model will allow any teen to connect to programming anywhere in the country and be part of the larger community that has shaped generations of teens.
USY is unique among youth groups in our commitment to year-round Torah learning, Shabbatonim, and love for Israel through a religious-egalitarian framework. We offer experiences teens can’t get elsewhere but which are no longer conducive to the regional model, especially as extracurricular options have increased and the role of synagogues have changed in families’ lives.
We are proud of USY’s 70-year record of transforming lives. We also recognize that many regions have struggled to achieve critical mass, especially since COVID, and that change is needed to provide an array of opportunities for teen leadership, study, growth and connection.
USY and USCJ leaders worked as quickly as possible to finalize and announce the new structure this spring and have it in place well before the next school year.
As we did so, we wanted to maintain the flow of events and elections in regions that are still thriving. Teens who have been elected to new boards will still serve in these leadership roles during the transition. We are looking to them to help develop programs, events, and experiences that resonate with their peers within the new structure.
The transition is underway and we will fully implement these changes by July 1, 2024.
USY and USCJ remain committed to identifying philanthropic sources to help us hire Community Directors who will support USY engagement between multiple synagogues in a specific geographic area.
After successfully piloting this approach in Chicago and Los Angeles last year, we are enthusiastic about scaling and replicating it in other communities. If you are interested in supporting these efforts, please contact USCJ Chief Development Officer Brad Sugar.
Jewish organizations, by nature, must be adaptive and innovative. Like other youth groups, USY has retooled and refined our organization and staffing over the years to meet the needs of the moment. Today’s changes represent a broader structural shift based on a comprehensive review and hundreds of conversations with teens, parents, and alumni. We are not retooling a 20th century model, but building a new model for today, which we can continually update to support current needs.
Synagogues will continue to sponsor chapters and International USY will support congregations where chapters don’t exist by working directly with their teens on grassroots programming. In cities or areas with multiple chapters, Community Directors will foster year-round programs. And teens from every congregation will have an array of options internationally.
This new system is better structured to provide support to congregations through staff training, programmatic, educational, and logistical assistance, grants to chapters for innovative and interchapter programs, and by developing cohorts of chapter staff for continued learning and growth.
Sign up to receive communications and news from USY
